Democracy Inaction

As many know Dunwoody will hold elections for City Council seats this fall. At the same time it is becoming increasingly apparent that current council is just a wee bit out of touch with the citizenry. We're regaled with tall tales of "thousands of emails from all across Dunwoody" when it suits council's desire to ramrod something generally unpopular down the public's throat but are given no substantive evidence of any alleged support for clearly unpopular issues. No clue where they get their wild-eyed ideas but we might as well be running this city based on chit-chats at a gas station.

But now there seems to be concerted and effective opposition to the whimsical fantasies of our duly elected Lords and Ladies of the ruling class and their courtesans at City Hall to the point we find ourselves at an impasse. The trifecta of "Runway in the Park", "No Way on the Parkway" and "Turning Down the Roundabout" pulled up lame right out of the gate.

This offers an excellent opportunity to solve the underlying problem of City Hall detachment. Put these issues on the upcoming ballot and while we're at it, let's dissect the "Master Plan" and put those individual components up for vote. Doesn't have to be a formal referendum, just a non-binding straw vote, but a vote that is much more transparent than rumors of bountiful and conveniently unavailable emails and phone calls.

Ramrodders will argue that we cannot afford to wait. Wait for what? Transparency? Serving the citizens of Dunwoody? For someone to actually look into what is really going on and question the almighty authority of City Hall and the bureaucratic minions who bloat our budget?

Until we get responsive and responsible leaders and city staff, we deserve no less than to have our voices heard in an auditable, undeniable forum.

Let the voters speak.

DCSS - Dunwoody City School System

There has been much hysteria of late regarding formal but belated recognition that DeKalb County Schools are wallowing in abject failure. There is and always has been gross incompetence in every aspect of the operation: financial; HR; operations; administration; IT/MIS; and accreditation oversight. Oh, yeah, and education. This is exactly what happens when government bureaucrats sate their lust for power by "managing" other people's money.

So now our local sugar plum visions dance around the creation of Dunwoody City Schools. Some say we should convert all existing schools in Dunwoody to charter schools in the hope that would give parents with children attending those schools greater influence over what goes on in that school. Or so they think. Parents have always been a bit delusional about "their school" and we have yet to demonstrate that giving excessive weight to their "concerns" improves education.

Others have suggested doing with the schools as the City did with DeKalb County--break away. For this to happen there must be a change to the constitution and legislation mandating transfer of school property at a nominal cost as was done with the parks when the city was formed. As many have already pointed out government school operations come with many encumberances and a CoD system would be much more expensive than proponents are willing to acknowledge (think Dunwoody Police Department). Yet the Carl Vinson Institute would certainly give it a green-light as that is exactly what they will be paid to do. There would be additional startup costs, beginning with textbooks and recruiting, and it isn't very likely that the parents themselves would pick up the tab. Even in conservative Dunwoody parents expect others to pay their freight.

A third proposal, perhaps only a trial balloon, was to create new schools from the ground up. Private schools. Well, quasi-private, as again, proponents of this proposal are expecting the City to subsidize the operation. And who wouldn't want to pay higher taxes so the neighbor's kids get a private school education? Turns out there are quite a few. While the semi-privy advocates are not very clear regarding the legal and regulatory implications of their grand scheme they're damn sure they don't want their kids going to "those DeKalb schools". But they also don't want to pay the piper--they just want to call the tune.

Outside of wanting someone else to pay what all these folks have in common is a rather flimsy grasp on the overall financial operation of America's Public Schools. The AJC reports that neighboring Gwinnett spends approximately $1 Billion to serve approximately 125,500 students. Assuming average class size of 30 students this works out to about $240K per class. We know the average teacher's burdened cost isn't half that even with platinum plated benefits. The fact that most of these folks don't know where all this money goes doesn't necessarily mean it is wasted but rather that they are not aware of what it takes to run a school. Bear in mind, Gwinnett is one of the more efficiently run systems in the metro area.

The powers that be had a similarly weak grasp of financials when they formed the City of Dunwoody. That or they were intentionally deceptive, take your pick. Yet many persist in the belief that Dunwoody schools would somehow be better run than DeKalb schools supported by the commonly held opinion that nothing could be worse than DeKalb. However there is no tangible evidence to suggest that Dunwoody would actually offer anything different or better in way of governance other than consistently pasty faces which in and of itself isn’t “better”. There is evidence to suggest Dunwoody might be as bad or worse than DeKalb. Dunwoody has polarized internal factions, openly acknowledged ethical issues, rather convoluted real estate "deals", and the City started from day one with “Friends and Family” on the City payroll which directly contributed to pissing away close to $100K. The parallels are frightening.

But probably not frightening enough to prevent the inevitable drive towards a mini-me DCSS--the Dunwoody City School System.

You Just Might Be Stupid

You just might be stupid if...

...the City of Dunwoody has it's way. With words. This comes by way of the third "Whereas" in the upcoming "moratorium on ethics" in Dunwoody. Yes, you probably thought there had been an outright ban, but there wasn't. Here's where the City is pretty sure that you, dear reader, are stupid:

"...it has become apparent to the Mayor and City Council that the process for adjudication of same is overly complicated and time intensive and not conducive to the understanding of the general public"

Well isn't that speah-SHUL? "It has become apparent to the Mayor and City Council"--it's about time something became apparent that folks in this City care about. But see that "not conducive to the understanding of the general public" part? The one in bold italics? That's where they're saying the general public (that would be you) are too stupid to understand the Smart City Leaders and Staff (that would be the Mayor, Council, City Manager and Lesser Minions) even when they put things in terms a fifth grader can grok.

And lest you think this is just a bunch of vapid Whereas's, Wherefor's and Whatwith's the Great and Mighty Oz spews forth before awarding the Tin Man a brain, look to the first enumerated item on the second page:

"The aforesaid recitals are not mere recitals, but are material portions of this Resolution;"

See? This is not merely a recital (from which we can conclude that unless specifically noted all other recitals in other City documents are in fact merely recitals). So, they're saying you're stupid and they're saying they mean it. And you can be certain about one thing--they will gut the ethics rules. They are going to say they're rewriting the ethics ordnance so the Stupid Little People in the 'Wood can understand them, but the rules will be of, by and for the folks who should be held to higher standards than the "general public".

And you just might be stupid if you continue to put up with this crap.

Brookhaven Seeks City Manager

We should be so lucky.

Dunwoody Charter Academy

This is direct from rumor central:

A group of like minded parents in Dunwoody are banding together to form Charter Academies to cover K-12 education for their children. Their unique approach, the basis for their Charter application, is that these schools propose to provide academics and only academics. No school lunches, kids can brown-bag it. No sports, that's what Dynamo and ALTA are for. No music program so if you think you're kid's got talent, then go for it on your own time on your own dime. And it will be modeled after homeschools (see GA Code Ann. 20-2-690 & Co.) with one hundred and eighty days of instruction of four and one half hours per day. 

Proponents of this model tout the efficacy and financial merits. Teachers will focus on teaching and teaching only with at least two hours every day for prep work. The laptop every child will tote around will be their multi-media center (what was once called a "library"). Given that students will be on campus approximately five hours per day the child's contact time with their parents will increase affording parents a greater opportunity to be engaged partners in their child's journey to educational achievement. Elimination of unnecessary waste in the form of cafeterias, libraries, sports facilities and theatres will trim costs and ensure that everyone, parents and students alike, understand "school is about learning". 

Of course this will never be approved and if it were it would never work. How can you possibly deliver a top-notch education without sports?

Blind Sided

Cheryl Atkinson, like all too many educrats across this nation, is hell bent on getting "computers in the schools" and has announced that 8200 students will be transitioning from "traditional" textbooks to netbooks, self-congratulating herself by saying "no longer will our students be saddled by heavy backpacks". As if that were not enough she could not hold back this edu-fart: "the fact is our children have an intellectual complexity  that demands we change our educational approach". Only in educational la-la land can profound ignorance and non-existent work ethic be considered "intellectual complexity".

It is mind-boggling that adults spew this nonsense and even more so that it works.

But this diatribe isn't about the proven waste of money and year over year growth of graft and mismanagement in public school IT departments and it isn't about the fact that computers in the classroom have no demonstrated benefit. This is about what may have a chance to put a stop to this nonsense.

If anything or anyone can, it will be the NFB--the National Federation of the Blind. If you check out their website you will notice (at the time of this writing) a prominent condemnation of Amazon for pushing their Kindle e-book readers to schools. You may think nothing of this, but consider that a philanthropist attempted to donate similar technology to an Athens area school and the school was compelled to reject the offer--they could not accept the legal risks of being sued by the NFB. If you don't believe it just point your browser to google and search "nfb sues".

It looks like DCSS and the taxpayers that fund it are about to get blind sided because they cannot see past the latest trend.

Al and Al

Not Tiede and Alberghini. Gore and Jazeera.

Turns out that after Al Gore invented the internet and went off to tend to his marriage he still had time to set up a cable channel which he has now sold to Al Jazeera. No telling what he'll do now.

What is really interesting about this deal is not Gore's obvious observation regarding continuity across owners but the reaction of cable companies who will no longer carry the channel. They claim their customers will not watch Al Jazeera originated content because it is "nothing but propaganda".

Yet these same customers are glued to "Faux News" and the "Communist News Network".

Sista From Anutha Planet

This scifi based dramedy sports Mary Steenburgen in the role of Janet Nester, an alien scientist stranded in the fictional town of Desuka where in an effort to fulfill her mission of studying alien social structure she finds herself on the local school board. It isn't as far fetched as it sounds.

Like most sitcoms Sista episodes begin with a lie followed by a buffoonish cover up. Unlike most sitcoms the show does not end in a kumbaya moment as it would in Friends, but in a teeth grinding attempt at putting the drama in dramedy, a plot device the writers are unfamiliar with. These are far from the worst failures offered up in the scripts. The writing is not just formulaic but  mindnumbingly repetitive like an insipid copy of Groundhog Day but without the daily plot progression of the protagonist.  If you've seen one episode, you've seen them all.

The only bright part of the writing is a certain Bevis and Butthead quality where the entire show is really a parody of the show's most devoted fans. The program is wildly popular with parents who do not seem to realize they are the real butt of what few jokes there are any more than they realize the witless parents on the show are lied to by "their" teachers and principals just as the Steenburgen character is fed lies by the school administrators.

Steenburgen valiantly tries to save the show only to be overcome by horrid writing and lack of any other competent actors in the ensemble. The Board Chair, who would be a perfect foil to her character were he played by the likes of James Earl Jones, is played by an actor so bad that the character looks like a racist caricature that should have Al Sharpton blackmailing the producers. Likewise the Superintendent is played by an actress clearly incapable of remembering her lines. Outtakes must be priceless.  Other role actors have surrendered, staggering through their performances like zombies. On occasion the extras playing the clueless, gullible parents steal a scene or two, but this is more a credit to the decision to use local extras than to the casting couch.

As the show enters its third season rumors of cancelation are growing louder. Hopefully her alien overlords will rescue Steenburgen from this hell but until this slot is filled with quality programming the discerning viewer should spend their time and money elsewhere.

It's The Robot Boys

It was an early Christmas present for our beloved boys in blue but for the rest of Dunwoody it was a flaming bag of stink dropped off on our collective front porch. 

The Dunwoody Police are getting a robot.

Did the department request a robot? Do they even need a robot? Did they make the case for this robot to Council? Did Council approve and provide budgetary support for a robot? Is there anyone who can be held accountable to the public who had anything to do with initiating and executing this acquisition?

Hell no. 

So why are we getting a robot? This cannot really be a Christmas present. Can it?

Well the answer is quite simple but only after you understand what drives decisions in this Smart City of Conservative Critical Thinkers. There was a grant. Yes sir, turns out GEMA, didn't quite run out of money in their federal money laundering scheme so they were throwing it out like candy at parade. Of course it wasn't just money. You have to spend it the way they tell you because that's how grants work. Another thing grants do is get you to buy something you don't need and then you have to pay to maintain it. Sort of like how a "free puppy" ain't really free. See, someone is going to have to maintain this mechanical device and we're very likely to see officers taken out of service for "robot training". 

Maybe after they're trained they'll be half as good with robots as these Danes.

Furnace Mystery

A long-time Dunwoody resident (aren't we all?) recently did the most peculiar and yet most Dunwoody-esque thing. While a full-time Dunwoody resident, this bloke, like many others 'round these parts, owns a second home as sort of a "vacation" home. Nothing unusual there. Well, this fall his furnace died. Nothing unusual there either.

Then it gets strange. Sure, the furnace was old, but it was reparable and at a cost of a several hundred dollars its service life may well have been extended a few more years. But instead of having the furnace fixed as most in Dunwoody will agree is the prudent course of action, this bloke had the whole thing ripped out and replaced. To the tune of several thousand dollars. How could someone smart enough to not just live but vote in our fair "City of Smarts" spend all that money while discarding a furnace that needed only a minor repair, that had served his needs in the past and promised to continue into the future?

This warranted a serious investigation.

The story is at least as peculiar as it is strange. The place this bloke bought five years ago was built in the mid eighties and the furnace was original. Something he described as not much different than the cursed furnace in "A Christmas Story" but lacking the character. Furthermore, the A/C which blew a mighty wind failed to blow a cold one. And this wind blew barely filtered air through leaky half-naked ducts compensating for those inadequacies by ensuring that the second floor was roasting whilst the main floor did a proper imitation of "The Mayor's Skating Rink". Year round. While built to code in the eighties, time, technology and building codes had relentlessly advanced.

So our bloke from Dunwoody decided to let the Past keep its own and move on to the new millennium.

He had the old HVAC system ripped out. Ducts, supply and return, were stripped, sealed and insulated. A modern zoning system was installed to properly address the all too often divergent needs of upstairs/downstairs. A real air filter. And, of course, a new furnace and A/C unit paired for maximum efficacy and sized based on up-to-date heat load calculations--real engineering--indicating that efficiency upgrades called for a smaller A/C unit than previously installed.

Z Wave aside, this project was not just about maximum efficiency, wiz-bang technology or catching the latest greenie trend. In fact, a lower-efficiency furnace was selected. Why? Because this bloke lives in a traditional "Williamsburg" style home (don't we all?) and a white pipe poking out the wall "just don't look right" and you cannot vent a high efficiency furnace through an existing terracotta chimney flue. While the desire to modernize was great, there was some serious consideration given to the heritage and character of the home and neighborhood.

But at the end of the day this bloke did something few others from Dunwoody would have done, especially for a secondary residence: he spent considerably more money to upgrade and modernize than would have been required to simply patch up the existing system.